And now for something different:

[skywaterblue]

I bust out laughing at this when it happened. "...but obviously, a lot of shelter dogs are mutts. Like me."

In seriousness: I love that he's got a little placard that says "Office of the President-Elect" and the sheer chutzpah in holding a press conference and more or less saying he's going to fucking start working RIGHT NOW. Shadow government for the win. Normally I'd be opposed to such power grabbing, but to be honest, our current administration is so weak and ill-respected that I'm glad he's serious business about getting to work.

Comments

[skywaterblue.livejournal.com]

We have lots of interests in common besides politics. Mainly science fiction. So I don't defriend, and he keeps me on my toes, and it's all good.

Because clearly, considering dialogue with nations like Iran means just that. (I can't get over the fact the Bush administration's top guy on Iran for three years wasn't allowed to talk to any Persian. I mean, what the hell?)

Obama already had my vote for a lot of reasons, but when he said this at the first debate with Clinton and everyone IMMEDIATELY SLAMMED ON HIM, that's when I knew he was the right guy for the job.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I know a Persian dissident, a journalist and writer who was in jail there and only got out (and to Germany, where he's currently part of the P.E.N.'s writers in exile program) because our goverment is in dialogue with Iran, which gave them some leverage. Dialogue doesn't mean you let crap like Ahmadinejad's Holocaust-denying or his general antisemitic rethoric slide, on the contrary. So yes, hearing early on that Obama understands this was very encouraging.

[skywaterblue.livejournal.com]

It's mostly annoying because I know that if we were only friendlier towards Iran, we'd get a better response out of them. C'mon, America. The House of Saud doesn't even PRETEND to be a Democracy. At least Iran has different political parties which switch off on being elected President, and newspapers, and women that go to school and hold jobs. At least Iran HAS dissidents.

I'm really hoping that a vote for Obama means a lacuna period in which United States foreign policy isn't completely dictated by 'our man in x, right or wrong'.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Iran versus Saudi Arabia: quite. (But Saudi Arabia will never, ever be named a "rogue nation", or a member of the "axis of evil", even if, say, footage of every genuinenly influential prince in the House of Saud personally attending a stoning would be broadcast on CNN, and we all know why.)

The most famous example of "our man in x, right or wrong" would be Saddam Hussein, wouldn't it? I seem to recall our papers quoting Rumsfeld (back when he was in the Reagan administration) re: Saddam during the Iran/Iraq-War and the use of poison gas, "he may be a son of a bitch, but he's our son of a bitch". (Though I've also seen that quote attributed to Alexander Hague about Noriega.)

On the brighter side: I really think there is a lot of potential for change here. Not overnight, but the fact that Americans would vote for a man who had a Muslim father, spent his first decade in a Muslim country like Indonesia and had "Hussein" as his middle name really left an impression, at least in the Turkish papers here in Germany (the Turks being our biggest Muslim minority) and in the Egyptian papers I've seen quoted from. It's a show, not tell way to prove that Americans as a people aren't the bigots they've been presented as by the local propaganda (which exists in additon to Republican realities). So there should be potentially more people ready to listen to what an Obama goverment has to say. (And perhaps, if we're lucky, less undecideds willing to be swayed to travel to Pakistan or Afghanistan and enlist with Al Quaida.)

[skywaterblue.livejournal.com]

Iran versus Saudi Arabia: quite. (But Saudi Arabia will never, ever be named a "rogue nation", or a member of the "axis of evil", even if, say, footage of every genuinenly influential prince in the House of Saud personally attending a stoning would be broadcast on CNN, and we all know why.)

Quite. The frustrating thing about it is that disentangling ourselves from the House of Saud is, I suspect, a very popular concept in the States. And had been for some time, but discussing it is under the code of Omerta. It's what 'ending our dependence on foreign oil' used to be code for at any rate. (Whereas remarkably, I think 'end our dependence on foreign oil' means just that now.)

The most famous example of "our man in x, right or wrong" would be Saddam Hussein, wouldn't it? I seem to recall our papers quoting Rumsfeld (back when he was in the Reagan administration) re: Saddam during the Iran/Iraq-War and the use of poison gas, "he may be a son of a bitch, but he's our son of a bitch". (Though I've also seen that quote attributed to Alexander Hague about Noriega.)

That phrase goes back far in American history. I'd not be surprised to see it sourced back to Korea or Vietnam. But yes, yes he was. We're also somewhat responsible for the Taliban, having funded them via our client state Pakistan for at least a decade. (Bringing in the other thread, it was covered by Aaron Sorkin in 'Charlie Wilson's War', a film I thought quite good.)

On the brighter side: I really think there is a lot of potential for change here. Not overnight, but the fact that Americans would vote for a man who had a Muslim father, spent his first decade in a Muslim country like Indonesia and had "Hussein" as his middle name really left an impression [...]

I hope so. It goes to show you that the American dream is not dead. Let's not forget, there was a vigorous group of people who came to support Rep. Keith Ellison using Thomas Jefferson's Quran when he was sworn in. (Indiana elected Andre Carson to Congress last week, who is a convert, so as of January there will be a Muslim-American caucus of sorts. How about that?) Michigan also elected the first Muslim Woman (http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iuocXjraXq3ogYlUpdrfygI-Kp_AD949OREG4) to serve in the State Legislature. And Colin Powell famously spoke up last week about Muslim-American servicemen -- the army is still the great equalizer for Americans.

I also think it does help that Obama is black, in regards to Islam. In America, at least until 9/11 sort of forced Middle America to pay attention, the most people knew about Islam came from black Americans who converted in the late 60s and 70s. At the very least, black Muslims are viewed as sort of quaint and homegrown and only threatening if you're still threatened by Malcolm X. Sort of like being named by hippies.